It's the unlikeliest place to imagine a festival, in the Sahara, not far from the Malian town of Timbuktu. But that's the home of the Festival in the Desert, which celebrated its third anniversary in 2003. While it attracts international talent, the real focus is on artists who make their homes in the area, often of the nomadic Tuareg people. But there are others who live locally, like the legendary guitarist
Ali Farka Toure, whose village of Niafunke lies just 40 kilometers away, and whose "Karaw" here is a masterpiece of desert funk. But so many of the bands here mine a wonderfully dark, spare, bluesy groove, like Tindé, or
Tinariwen, whose "Aldachan Manin" has a muscular suppleness.
Oumou Sangare, one of the great singers from Mali's southern Wassoulou region, brings plenty of raw soul to "Wayena," and kora genius
Ballake Sissoko collaborates with Italian pianist
Ludovico Einaudi for a fascinating piece. America's
Blackfire connect the dots between the Sahara and the Arizona deserts, although their punk-inflected rock is a little out of place, but still powerful.
Lo' Jo, one of the festival's instigators, team up with Malian Django for a storming version of their "Jah Kas Cool Boy," and with "Win My Train Fare Home,"
Robert Plant and
Justin "Scarecrow" Adams offer a circular blues that fits in perfectly with the other artists. Every performance is outstanding, but even more, they communicate the open nature of the festival, the feeling of what it was to be there on those nights and days in January 2003. And that is what makes this very special indeed, lifting it far above most live albums. This one definitely has the magic, making it simply one of the best live albums ever released. ~ Chris Nickson